160 2663 Reedster attacksquad^1531 Re: Japan wins the World Baseball Classic [Reply to #2663] 3/21/06, 11:44am Here's my three cents on this. What a great game last night! I did not think Japan would win, much less swing the bat as well as they did. Also, does this yield Japan as the next WBC host? Does Cuba deserve to host now? Will the format change? If this is to be modeled after the World Cup, then regions should change in the next WBC and U.S. players and owners would hopefully be more patriotic and represent when asked. I am willing to bet that on some of the other squads, players were fighting for a chance to be on their country's team and would not have said no if asked. Screw the owners who hate this tournament. Baseball needed this to promote the game in a positive way. There are sports writers and analysts who say that the US did not field their best team. Neiher did some other countires, like the Domicans for example. No Pedro, no Manny. Nuff said. And shouldn't the WBC be played during the summer, like maybe the all star break? How boring is the All Star game guys? The festivities are cool, especially the HR derby. How about that? The players would all be in baseball shape. It goes with the "boys of summer" theme. Why not offer a bonus as an owner to players who make the WBC teams of their respected countries? This tournanment is something the NFL and basektball don't have. This could help baseball catch up to those two sports in the long run. Point being, so much more can be done with the WBC, but what a success it was. For those of you who watched last night, take sec and realize you were watching history in the making. What we, the U.S. should get out of this tourney is: 1)You better believe our Asian friends will only get better as their leagues and players develop 2)The Latin countries will always be good and favored to win 3> Canada and Mexico can and will challenge us in the future. Gotta love it! [attacksquad from Austin/TX] Replies: 2673